Ma·jor
 1. Greater in number, quantity, or extent; as, the major part of the assembly; the major part of the revenue; the major part of the territory.
 2. Of greater dignity; more important.
 3. Of full legal age; adult. [Obs.]
 4. Mus. Greater by a semitone, either in interval or in difference of pitch from another tone.
 Major key Mus., a key in which one and two, two and three, four and five, five and six and seven, make major seconds, and three and four, and seven and eight, make minor seconds.
 Major offense Law, an offense of a greater degree which contains a lesser offense, as murder and robbery include assault.
 Major scale Mus., the natural diatonic scale, which has semitones between the third and fourth, and seventh and fourth, and seventh and eighth degrees; the scale of the major mode, of which the third is major. See Scale, and Diatonic.
 Major second Mus., a second between whose tones is a difference in pitch of a step.
 Major sixth Mus., a sixth of four steps and a half step. In major keys the third and sixth from the key tone are major. Major keys and intervals, as distinguished from minors, are more cheerful.
 Major third Mus., a third of two steps.
 major diatonic scale n. Mus., The natural diatonic scale, which has semitones between the third and fourth, and seventh and eighth notes, and whole tones between the other notes;  the scale of the major mode, of which the third is major; also called major scale.   See Scale, and Diatonic.
 ◄ ►
 Scale, n.
 1. A ladder; a series of steps; a means of ascending. [Obs.]
 2. Hence, anything graduated, especially when employed as a measure or rule, or marked by lines at regular intervals. Specifically: (a) A mathematical instrument, consisting of a slip of wood, ivory, or metal, with one or more sets of spaces graduated and numbered on its surface, for measuring or laying off distances, etc., as in drawing, plotting, and the like. See Gunter's scale. (b) A series of spaces marked by lines, and representing proportionately larger distances; as, a scale of miles, yards, feet, etc., for a map or plan. (c) A basis for a numeral system; as, the decimal scale; the binary scale, etc. (d) Mus. The graduated series of all the tones, ascending or descending, from the keynote to its octave; -- called also the gamut. It may be repeated through any number of octaves. See Chromatic scale, Diatonic scale, Major scale, and Minor scale, under Chromatic, Diatonic, Major, and Minor.
 3. Gradation; succession of ascending and descending steps and degrees; progressive series; scheme of comparative rank or order; as, a scale of being.
    There is a certain scale of duties . . . which for want of studying in right order, all the world is in confusion.   --Milton.
 4. Relative dimensions, without difference in proportion of parts; size or degree of the parts or components in any complex thing, compared with other like things; especially, the relative proportion of the linear dimensions of the parts of a drawing, map, model, etc., to the dimensions of the corresponding parts of the object that is represented; as, a map on a scale of an inch to a mile.
 Scale of chords, a graduated scale on which are given the lengths of the chords of arcs from 0° to 90° in a circle of given radius, -- used in measuring given angles and in plotting angles of given numbers of degrees.
 major scale
      n : a diatonic scale with notes separated by whole tones except
          for the 3rd and 4th and 7th and 8th [syn: major diatonic
          scale]